


empanadas

by orphan_account



Category: WTFock | Skam (Belgium)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Author Is Sleep Deprived, Cooking, Grandparents & Grandchildren, Hispanic Character, Jens is latino bc i said so, Latino Character, author projecting onto jens, jens speaking spanish
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-10
Updated: 2020-06-10
Packaged: 2021-03-03 19:01:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,002
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24640501
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Jens making empanadas with his sister and thinking about his grandma. this is just me projecting onto him bc i want him to be latino. this is also so bad i literally wrote it at 2am and its basically just being sad over my great grandma and empanadas
Kudos: 4





	empanadas

As Jens skated down the long, empty street of Antwerp in the early afternoon, he thought about what he might be doing if he was at school; where, he was supposed to be. He’d probably be sleeping on his desk, or going over his notes with Isa, or maybe letting her paint his nails if they were watching a movie for the class. He had only skipped class a total of 13 times in his high school career, and when he did, it was for a good reason (this time being his mom having an emergency meeting and needing him to watch his sister, Lotte). Jens is a stoner, yeah, but his focus and attention on his grades rarely falter. He enjoys school, he’s good at it, and if some tutoring can get him some extra money for groceries or weed, he’d pay a little attention in chemistry for it.   
He loved going out during the day, especially on weekdays. Belgium is small, the streets are rarely crowded, and Antwerp is a quiet city, but in the afternoon, before school has let out, before adults got off work, the streets were quiet he could hear his footsteps, or the way his skateboard glided on the bumpy sidewalk. He could hear his music clearly, with not background voices. He could think when it was quiet.   
When he got home, Lotte, who was only 4, so she hasn’t started school yet, ran up and hugged him. He picked her up and spun her, placing her on his hip and walking into the kitchen. There was a note on the counter that read “I’ll be out until late, there’s frozen pizza” He sighed and turned to his sister, still placed on his hip, still wearing a smile that didn’t falter since he got home.   
“Quieres Cocinar?” her smile was so big Jens thought she might get stuck like that. 

Its rare there is fresh food in the Stoffels household, with his mom working nights, and most mornings, and Jens having homework and a social life, it doesn’t leave much time to sit down and make a meal. Tonight, he has some calc work, but he can wait a couple hours. He takes the empanada wrappers out of the freezer, and asks Lotte to take out beef, eggs and tomatoes. He helps her open the can, but leaves her to do the mixing. As the eggs boil and the beef cooks on the stove, Jens is spicing the meats, trying to explain to his sister how much of what goes where. There was really no recipe, just eyeballing Jens picked up watching his abuelita making them countless times. He looks at Lotte, and his chest feels tight, knowing she never got to experience the love their grandma exerted, she was nothing but love. A love that could never be remade, recreated, a love that couldn’t be explained. Empanadas were one of the first things Jens ever made, and it was the way he connected best with his grandma. When he was young, younger than Lotte, he would sit at the kitchen table and watch his abuelita carefully fold each empanada, like a machine, it seemed so simple, it took Jens years, but he got it. And when she got sick, he made empanadas and brought them to her, each week, over and over again, trying to master it, and each time she would look at him and say “Lo siento mi vida, sigue intentandolo”. He smiled at the memory, he turned back to Lotte, who was still mixing the tomatoes with the spices. He kissed her head and scooped up some of the cooking beef mixture, letting Lotte taste it. She smiled and said “Mas sal” he laughed, she knew some spanish, Jens almost only spoke to her in it, but their mom spoke to her in dutch so she got confused sometimes. 

The siblings sat in silence as Jens quickly, but delicately made the twists of the masa, Lotte was watching his hands and trying to mimic the presses he was making, they looked awful, but as long as they stayed closed, it didn’t really matter. everytime Jens was sat like this, at the same kitchen table, surrounded by the same smell, the same flour on his hands, he felt like a kid again, sat with his grandma, smiling and trying to perfect the pastries. He thought about all the times he would walk into his house and smell the oil and butter and feel safe, about all the times his abuelita would say “muchas gracias mi amor, verdad no se que haria sin ti” as if it was a chore. It felt like an honour to Jens, no matter how many times he did it, it felt like he was privileged to be able to experience what he was experiencing, make what he was making, he felt privileged to have a grandma like his. 

Their mom got home when they were placing the empanadas in the hot oil. She walked in and kissed both her kids foreheads.   
“Hola mama” Jens said from the stove. “Hola nene” she spoke to Jens in spanish now, since hes passed having trouble learning so many languages at once.   
“porque estas cocinando? dije que hay comida en el congelador”   
“lo se mama, estamos cocinando por que es disfruta” he looked up from the stove and flashed her a smile, to which she returned happily and ruffled his hair. He knew it made her think of her mom too. Which always made her sad, but not in a way that she would hide, just in a way that there was a hole that couldn’t be filled, Jens knew the feeling all too well. 

The three ate their food in silence, sharing smiles and nods with their mouthes full. Jens was glad he skipped class, glad he decided to cook. And although there was an unfillable hole in all of their hearts, they could be temporarily covered by a couple empanadas.

**Author's Note:**

> this is just me projecting onto jens bc me and my friend want him to be more like us. projection at its finest. 
> 
> for non spanish speakers here is the translations!!   
> "quieres cocinar?" - do you want to cook?  
> "Lo siento mi vida, sigue intentandolo” - im sorry [pet name], keep trying  
> "mas sal" - more salt  
> “muchas gracias mi amor, verdad no se que haria sin ti” - thank you so much my love, really i don't know what id do without you   
> “porque estas cocinando? dije que hay comida en el congelador” - why are you cooking? i told you there's food in the freezer  
> “lo se mama, estamos cocinando por que es disfruta” - i know mom were cooking because its fun


End file.
